Comparing Excel for Web and Google Sheets

If you’re doing office work, do you ever use an online spreadsheet, like Excel for Web and Google Sheets? Or, do you only work with desktop software, like Excel for Windows, or Excel for Mac?

Desktop vs Online

For my business projects, I use a desktop version of Excel 365 for about 99% of my spreadsheet work. For the other 1%, I occasionally share a Google Sheets file with someone, so we can easily keep track of simple task lists, or project planning.

Based on my chats with friends and family members, I know that Google Sheets is popular with students, and people doing simple projects at home, because it’s free to use, easy to access from different devices, and simple to use.

Fortunately, the online spreadsheets are much better now, compared to the early days. However, I still find them clunky and annoying, compared to the desktop version of Excel.

Feature Comparison: Excel for Web vs Google Sheets

In the section below, there’s a quick list of key spreadsheet features, comparing Excel for Web and Google Sheets.

  • Which features are most important to you?
  • Is there one feature that would make you choose between the two programs?

For example, when I use Google Sheets, I absolutely miss having named tables, because tables make it so easy to sort, filter and select the data.

named tables in Excel with table style options

named tables in Excel with table style options

Feature Comparison Table

Here’s the online spreadsheet comparison table. What ranking order would you put the features in?

Can you think of other features, that I forgot to include?

Feature

Excel for Web

Google Sheets

Interface & Familiarity Resembles Desktop Excel Web-centric, user-friendly
Collaboration Real-time co-authoring Simultaneous editing
Offline Access Limited offline functionality Full offline access
Integration with Office Seamless integration Native integration with Google
Formulas & Functions Extensive formula support Robust, similar to Excel
Data Analysis Power Query and Pivot Tables Pivot Tables and Explore
Charting & Visualization Advanced chart options Varied charts, less advanced
Add-ons & Extensions Excel Add-ins supported Google Workspace Marketplace
Security Enterprise-level security Google Workspace Security
Storage & File Types OneDrive integration Google Drive integration
Table Objects Excel Tables with structured referencing Basic tables, less structured
Automation Power Automate integration Google Apps Script
Formatting Rich formatting options Intuitive formatting tools
Conditional Formatting Extensive options Robust, but fewer options
Version History Detailed versioning history Basic version history
Ease of Learning Familiar to Excel users User-friendly, shorter learning curve
Mobile Experience Responsive design, good mobile experience Native mobile app, optimized

Choose Between Excel for Web and Google Sheets

For online spreadsheets, I usually choose Google Sheets, because so many friends, family members and acquaintances use it.

That makes it the best option for sharing spreadsheet lists with part-time assistants, in my business projects.

I have used Excel for Web for a few business projects, but it’s a bit trickier to share with other people, who are outside of your organization. Or maybe I’m just doing it incorrectly!

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Video: Create Named Table in Excel

To see the easy steps in creating an Excel Table, you can watch this short video.

There are written steps on the Excel Named Tables page on my Contextures site.

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Comparing Excel for Web and Google Sheets

Comparing Excel for Web and Google Sheets

Comparing Excel for Web and Google Sheets

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